King Andrea, Munisamy Geetha, de Wit Harriet, Lin Shang
University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
Int J Psychophysiol. 2006 Mar;59(3):203-9. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2005.10.008. Epub 2005 Dec 15.
Individual differences in response to stress may play a role in the development and maintenance of addictive behaviors. While there is evidence that people with a biological family history for alcoholism have a blunted cortisol response to alcohol, data are lacking in other at-risk subgroups, such as heavy social drinkers. The present study examined salivary cortisol response to administration of 0.0, 0.4 (2 drink equivalent), and 0.8 g/kg (4 drink equivalent) alcohol in two groups of social drinkers: heavy drinkers (n=32) and light social drinkers (n=23). The study was conducted double-blind and drink-order was counterbalanced between groups. Salivary cortisol and subjective measures were obtained at predrink baseline, and 15, 45, 105, and 165 min after beverage consumption. Results showed a significant groupxdosextime interaction (p<0.005), with alcohol (0.8 g/kg) producing an attenuated cortisol response in heavy drinkers compared to the light drinkers during the declining phase of the BAC. This outcome remained even after controlling for the effects of smoking status, family history of alcoholism, sex, and negative affect ratings during the session. Neither placebo nor the lower dose of alcohol significantly increased cortisol levels. In sum, a relatively high dose of alcohol produced a smaller increase in cortisol in heavy drinkers compared to light drinkers. The reduced cortisol reactivity in the heavier drinkers is consistent with reports that individuals at risk for alcoholism are hyporesponsive to physical and psychological stress. Further research may help determine whether alteration in cortisol response to alcohol is a biological marker of the propensity to abuse alcohol.
对应激反应的个体差异可能在成瘾行为的发展和维持中起作用。虽然有证据表明有酒精ism生物学家族史的人对酒精的皮质醇反应迟钝，但在其他高危亚组中，如重度社交饮酒者，数据却很缺乏。本研究在两组社交饮酒者中检测了唾液皮质醇对0.0、0.4（相当于2杯酒）和0.8 g/kg（相当于4杯酒）酒精给药的反应：重度饮酒者（n = 32）和轻度社交饮酒者（n = 23）。该研究采用双盲进行，两组之间饮料顺序相互平衡。在饮酒前基线以及饮用饮料后15、45、105和165分钟获取唾液皮质醇和主观测量数据。结果显示存在显著的组×剂量×时间交互作用（p < 0.005），在血液酒精浓度下降阶段，与轻度饮酒者相比，酒精（0.8 g/kg）使重度饮酒者的皮质醇反应减弱。即使在控制了吸烟状况、酒精ism家族史、性别以及该时段内的负面情绪评分的影响后，这一结果仍然存在。安慰剂和较低剂量的酒精均未显著提高皮质醇水平。总之，与轻度饮酒者相比，相对高剂量的酒精在重度饮酒者中引起的皮质醇升高较小。重度饮酒者皮质醇反应性降低与酒精ism高危个体对生理和心理应激反应低下的报道一致。进一步的研究可能有助于确定酒精皮质醇反应的改变是否是酒精滥用倾向的生物学标志物。
